it’s heaven

10:00 AM and I felt like I’d already done a day’s work straitening up the house, feeding and dressing two toddlers; Johnny 4 and Carrie 3, but finally we were on the road heading into town to take care of Monday morning errands. The air was brisk, but the unexpected sunshine made it feel warmer than it actually was. Johnny was talking a mile a minute while Carrie sat quietly, as always. With my back to them as I drove I imagined she was taking in every word that spilled from his mouth in the fascinated manner she always displayed.

We rounded the last curve and reached the small rise where on clear days a person could view the small town as it lay in the midst of the countryside as if it had been picked up by a giant and placed in a shallow bowl. The morning sun was casting an orange hue on the grain elevator and as I was thinking to myself how beautiful it appeared a voice from the back seat uttered, “It’s Heaven!” I paused for a moment as the words registered in my mind; shocked to realize it was Carrie expressing a thought of her own instead of mimicking her big brother.

“Where’s Heaven?” I responded. “Right there!” she whispered with enthusiasm that made my heart melt. “I don’t see it, honey. Where do you see Heaven?” I asked the second time. This time her response was louder and contained a tinge of exasperation. She pointed her tiny hand over the back of the front seat, pointing at the grain elevator in the distance and said, “My Sunday School teacher said Heaven is the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen, and that’s it!”

There were a lot of those where I grew up in Sherman, Texas, and also we see them across West Texas when we are heading to Colorado and other places. I bet Carrie’s pick for heaven will change as she gets older.